UMUR
"Lie" is a single released in September 1994 by EastWest Records to support the October 1994 release of the third full-length studio album ("Awake") by progressive metal act Dream Theater.
The single consists of four tracks. The first two tracks on the single are tracks from "Awake" in mildly edited versions. The first track is "Lie" and the second track is the Kevin Moore penned "Space-Dye Vest". The two remaining tracks are "To Live Forever", which is an older song Dream Theater had played live for many years which now finally saw a release in a studio version, and "Another Day" from the band´s second full-length studio album "Images and Words (1992)" in a live version.
Even if I usually dislike it when artists edit their original material the version of "Lie" featured on the single isn´t altered too badly. "Space-Dye Vest" is without a doubt a beautiful Kevin Moore penned track and great closing track on "Awake" but I think it´s an odd choice for this single. Of course you can´t leave out "Lie" (it´s sort of a title track on this single) but the inclusion of "Space-Dye Vest" is a bit unneccesary if you ask me.
"To Live Forever" is as mentioned a track Dream Theater had played live for years. The track is also featured on the "Images and Words: Live in Tokyo (1993)" video which was recorded during the "Images and Words" tour. "To Live Forever" is a pretty good Dream Theater track but nothing too special really. But I guess it´s great that the band finally had a chance to release the track after playing it live for so many years. Sort of get it off their chest.
The last track on the single is "Another Day" in a really great live version. The parts that were played by saxophone on the original studio version of the track, are played by Kevin Moore on the keyboards and it sounds really good to my ears. I know some people have a hard time swallowing this very pop orientated track by Dream Theater but I´ve always enjoyed it. This live version of the track is no exception. It should be noted that the live version on this single isn´t exclusive to this release. In fact it had already been released on the "Another Day" single in 1993.
The musicianship is as always outstanding and the sound quality is excellent on all songs.
While a single like this is naturally mostly a fan item I´ll dare give it 3 stars anyway and that´s because the tracks that are featured here are all of good quality. I could have done without "Space-Dye Vest" as I already have "Awake", but I guess it doesn´t hurt that the track is included.